With One Up, Two Back, Vancouver saxophonist John Doheny offers up a little West Coast hip. It bops and swings and slides with an energy more in tune with a gig recording than a studio session. From the frenetic opening of the title track to the final off-kilter note on "Perdido" there's a nice club feel to the whole package. This is not your cafe jazz.

Doheny's touring background in support of innumerable R&B legends pays big dividends here in this debut jazz recording. Throughout the CD there is a level of earnest showmanship, a display of substance rather than of flash, and the quintet buys into it. Trumpeter Norm Quinn, pianist Ridley Vinson, bassist Allan W. Johnston and drummer Stan Taylor each manage to shine without distracting from the whole.

Of note is a guest appearance by vocalist Colleen Savage of Mother of Pearl. Though her early appearance on Jobim ' s "Dindi" seems to disrupt the initial flow, it is more than made up for in the superb rendition of "Time After Time."

Besides five cover tunes there are four original compositions included in the mix. The honesty and humor inherent in each bodes well for the future. Doheny possesses the skill both as a leader and as a player and it will be interesting to see where he takes us.

from vol. 6 Winter/Spring 2003     

The John Doheny Quintet

One Up, Two Back

Reviewed by Ben Maycock